The National Wellness Institute Wellness in Clinical Practice (WCP) Professional Certificate Program provides the tools for participants to integrate the principles of evidence-based health behavior, wellness, coaching, health promotion, and disease prevention into their clinical practice. The program consists of 40 hours of self-paced online training.

Participants will have 120 days from the date their registration confirmation e-mail is sent to complete the course. For the best learning experience, it is recommended that the course is completed within 60 days. Individuals who successfully complete the training within 120 days receive a Certificate in Wellness in Clinical Practice.

Who should take this program?

The program content assumes participants already have a certain level of clinical knowledge; therefore it is recommended for professionals working directly with patients/clients in a clinical setting: physicians, nurses, chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncturists, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, naturopaths, occupational therapists, clinical social workers, nurse midwives, physician assistants, registered dietitians, certified athletic trainers and other clinical providers, as well as advanced students who are working toward these types of professions.

Program Objectives
Following completion of the certification program, participants will be able to:

describe the Ecological Theory of Health Promotion and how it pertains to wellness, health behavior, and planning of health and wellness programming at the clinical and worksite levels.

list the Six Dimensions of Wellness and describe how they may be applied to everyday clinical practice through health coaching, wellness and lifestyle modification, and use of clinical preventive services.

apply the basic concepts of health coaching and lifestyle counseling to patients/participants in a clinical or worksite setting.

Course Content: The program is comprised of 20 units. Click here for more information about the topics covered in each unit. Each unit is presented in two one-hour pre-recorded online webinars. Units 1-19 are each followed by a quiz of seven multiple choice questions tied to the learning objectives of each unit. Participants must pass the quiz before moving on to the next unit.

Final Exam: After completing Unit 20, you must pass the final exam to earn your Professional Certificate in Wellness in Clinical Practice. As part of the registration fee, you have two attempts to pass the exam. If you do not pass on your second attempt, a fee of $150 will be assessed for an additional retest; you will be notified about opportunities for this additional retest via e-mail. Once you begin the exam, you will have two (2) hours to complete the final exam.

Faculty

The NWI Wellness in Clinical Practice professional certificate program is developed and taught by highly experienced and respected leaders in the health promotion and wellness.

Marion Willard ("Will") Evans, Jr., DC, PhD, MCHES, CWP, is professor and department head of Food Science, Nutrition, and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University. He holds a PhD from the University of Alabama and UAB in health promotion with concentration in epidemiology. He is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist, a Certified Wellness Practitioner with the National Wellness Institute, and a Fellow of the Kansas Public Health Leadership Academy. His research interests include modification of health care provider behaviors related to patient health promotion, smoking cessation research, including smoking ordinance modification, infection control measures for manual therapists, and health behaviors in sport. He is the author, with Cheryl Hawk, DC, PhD, CHES, CWP, of a 2013 text entitled, Health Promotion and Wellness: An Evidence-Based Guide to Clinical Preventive Services.

Cheryl Hawk, DC, PhD, CHES,has designed and taught courses on wellness and health promotion to health professions students and in post-graduate education. She received her Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1976 from the National University of Health Sciences and practiced full-time for 12 years. In 1991, she earned a PhD in Preventive Medicine from the University of Iowa and also became a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). She is an author on over 100 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and the author, with Will Evans, DC, PhD, MCHES, ofHealth Promotion and Wellness: An Evidence-Based Guide to Clinical Preventive Services. She is currently co-chair of the Research Working Group of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care. She has been named "Researcher of the Year” by both the American Chiropractic Association (2003) and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (2005). Her areas of interest are health promotion and prevention, practice-based research and health services research.

Michael A. Perko, PhD, MCHES, FAAHE,currently serves as Associate Professor in the Dept. of Public Health Education at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro; prior to that he was the Department Head of Health Sciences at the University of Alabama where he ran the seventh-ranked PhD program in the country in Health Education and Promotion. For seven years, Dr. Perko helped run Alabama Power Company's "Good Health Makes Sense" worksite wellness program. In 1994, that program was named one of the 10 best programs in the country. Dr. Perko has consulted with many companies and organizations on health promotion and disease prevention initiatives including the U.S. National Chamber of Commerce, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and the U.S. Army Special Forces and the 173rd Airborne in Europe. A Master Certified Health Education Specialist, Dr. Perko received the 2011 Excellence in Teaching Award from both the School of Health and Human Performance at UNCG and the same award at UNC-Wilmington in 2002; in 2008, he was named the Nation’s Top Health Educator. Dr. Perko is a Certified Health and Wellness Coach and the author of six books and 50 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has been quoted in both the New York and Los Angeles Times and has been featured on NPR, in Sports Illustrated and on ESPN’s "Outside the Lines.”

Registration Fees

(Includes access to online modules, quizzes, and final exam. To receive your certificate you must successfully complete all 20 units and the final exam within 120 days of receiving course access.)

Option #1: (Save when you register for all units at the same time!)
All 20 Units
Current NWI Member: $1,200
Non-member: $1,325

Option #2 Section 1 (Units 1-10) only or Section 2 (Units 11-20) only(If choosing this option, you will first purchase Section 1. If you choose to continue with the program after successfully completing this section, you will be able to purchase Section 2.)
Current NWI Member: $650 per section

NWI Cancellation Policy:No refunds are given for cancellation of online program registrations. If you have any questions regarding your registration, contact NWI.

WCP Professional Certificate

To earn your Certificate in Wellness in Clinical Practice, within 120 days of registering for the course, you must:

Complete all course elements

Receive a passing grade (≥80%) on the final exam

NWI will mail you your certificate with two (2) weeks of successful completion of steps 1 and 2 above.

Continuing Education Credit for Certifications/Licenses Currently Held